The Gilbert Sister
by mermaidstear
Summary: Scarlett is Elena's sister and as the vampires enter Elena's life, they enter hers. She is jealous of Elena being with Stefan but fails to realize that Damon cares for her. Damon/OC/Stefan
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know this isn't very good at first but the first few episodes are boring to work with. Just introducing my character in and letting the rest of the chips fall where they may. I plan on updating soon. I don't own the Vampire Diaries or any of the characters besides Scarlett.**

I woke up on the first day of school in a panic, concerned that I really was losing my mind. I wasn't as sad as I had been since my parents' death but that wasn't saying much. My brother Jeremy had been the worst at coping so far and my sister Elena, always levelheaded, pretended that she was fine when we all knew otherwise. I wasn't prepared for the first day back and I assumed neither of them was either.

I moved downstairs, in a haze, droopy from not being able to sleep in. I saw my aunt Jenna standing at the counter. "Good morning, Scarlett. I hope you're prepared for school. I gave you lunch money, right?" Jenna was very scatterbrained and I liked that about her. She was also a very positive person and it was rubbing off on me.

"You gave it to me last night so yeah, I guess I'm ready." She gave me a look.

"You and Elena have been doing so well, Scar. School is bound to help that." I nodded and walked out with Elena. About the only thing we had in common physically was our hair color. My hair was curly where hers was straight. My eyes were green and hers were brown. I was pale where she was tan. We barely had any resemblance. But for sisters, we actually always got along. We even hung around in the same friend group.

We got to school and my best friend, Caroline, ran up and hugged me. She was also a positive person. I was glad to be around her. I went through all of my classes until she finally mentioned that there was a new guy in town. I raised my eyebrows. "Have you met him?" I asked.

"Well, his name's Stefan and I'm pretty sure he'll be at the party tonight." She grinned at me. Caroline was always incessantly trying to convince me that I needed to go out more often.

"I'm not going to that, Caroline." I said like it should have been obvious.

"You'll want to go once you see him." She winked and left. Elena had decided to walk home, through the cemetery. I thought it wasn't very smart in the way of getting over things but I tried not to judge her. Eventually, she got home that night before the party and seemed spooked.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, totally. I just ran into the new guy while I was out. It was… weird," she responded. I took it at face value. It was easy for either of us to be spooked, me especially. At the mention of the new guy, our doorbell rang. "Would you get that?" Elena asked. I raced downstairs and opened up the door.

Standing on the other side was a very good looking guy. He was taller than me by quite a few inches, he had tan, glowing skin, and his nose was absolutely perfect. "Hi," he said. "I'm Stefan, I'm new in town." He extended his hand towards me and I shook it.

"I'm Scarlett," I said back. Caroline hadn't been lying about this guy.

"Does Elena live here?" _Of course, _I thought. It was always for Elena.

"Yeah, she's my sister." I turned and called her name up the stairs.

"I'm sorry to come unannounced but when I ran into her earlier, she forgot this." He held up Elena's journal.

"Oh, it's no problem. I know she'll want that back." As I finished my sentence, Elena came to the door. I backed off and wanted them exchange a few words then Stefan handed over her diary. I heard him mention that he had one too. Of course, he was interested in Elena. Everyone always was. Caroline would have a field day with this. It was clear she wanted the new guy.

"Scar, we're gonna go to the party. You wanna come?" asked Elena. I reluctantly nodded. The party was somewhere that I didn't really want to be at but Stefan had been nice to me and if he was interested in Elena, I wanted to show him that I could be nice too.

After getting to the party, Stefan and Elena went off on their own. I stood around with Caroline and Bonnie for awhile. Bonnie was getting spooked because her grandma kept talking about witches. Caroline and I were more concerned with Stefan. "I mean, he just waltzes into town and picks her!" exclaimed Caroline. "He never even gave the rest of us a chance."

"Did you expect anything less, Caroline?" I asked, sarcastically. Losing my parents had done a lot for me in the sarcasm department.

"Scarlett, you're her sister. Why don't you tell her to give the rest of us a shot?"

"Come on, she deserves this," said Bonnie.

"Oh, so me and Scarlett don't?"

"Scarlett has Tyler if she wants someone. Both her and Elena deserve this."

"Like I'm ever gonna date Tyler," I responded. "He is such a jerk."

"For real," said Caroline. "He's only into Scarlett because she's the complete opposite of Vicki and let's be honest, Vicki is his number one target. I think that's so unfair to Scar but you know, bad boys like that innocent girl."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't give much thought to Tyler and I never would until he stopped being such a jerk. I walked away from them and towards the woods. Tonight had proven what I had already known, that Elena was going to try it with Stefan. I had to admit that he had already drawn me in. As I was walking around in the woods, I heard something. I turned my head quickly and noticed fog rolling in around my feet.

I heard other noises and shuddered against a tree. I saw a shadow dash behind the tree I was leaning against. I know my breathing was harsh and my heart was pounding. "You're fine," I heard someone say. "Go back." I didn't wait to see who was talking. I took off running toward the party and then I heard a scream. I saw Stefan and Elena catch my eye and everyone else was alerted.

Vicki Donovan had been attacked by animal, I learned the next day. I figured that maybe I had imagined the voice. It was a real possibility and I had been freaked. Elena and Stefan had all but made their relationship public. Stefan and I grew to be somewhat friends. Bonnie decided that she didn't like him though.

"Scar, I told you, I don't know how it works but I got a bad vibe from him," said Bonnie. She was taking this witch thing to a new extreme and it was beginning to really scare me.

"That's impossible. He's nice as can be," I responded. I really liked Stefan as a person and I figured that Bonnie just hadn't given him enough of a chance.

"You're just saying that because you're into him too." I opened my mouth to respond. "Don't deny it. I see the way you look at him."

"Just don't tell Elena, okay? I can't help it that I'm interested in him." She nodded.

"Caroline's into his brother. Maybe when she's over him, you can take the guy."

"Stefan has a brother?" I asked.

"Surely, Caroline told you, at least." She looked skeptical, like maybe she shouldn't have told me. I shook my head. "I can't imagine why no one would've mentioned it. Well, I'm coming over tonight for dinner. Elena is making me spend time with Stefan."

"It's not gonna be the death sentence you're making it out to be." She rolled her eyes. I went home with Stefan and Elena and sat in the living room while they cooked. Stefan was trying to mention things about himself while he cooked and I found it endearing. I shook my head. They were dating. I shouldn't be interested in him.

I didn't say much at dinner. I basically watched Stefan try to entertain Bonnie and get her to loosen up a bit. It looked like it was working. As we were finishing eating, I heard the doorbell ring. Elena looked at me, confused. I shrugged. This shouldn't have been for me. I opened the door and Caroline breezed past me. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "I thought we'd drop by!" I turned away from her to see the other part of "we." A man was standing on the other side of the doorframe and he was good looking. He had dark hair like mine and was tall and pale.

"I'm Damon Salvatore, AKA the other brother." He almost winked at me. So this was Stefan's brother.

"I'm Scarlet Gilbert, Elena's sister."

"I know." He smiled at me but it wasn't sensual or even naughty. I saw Caroline give me a look that implied that she was jealous. Stefan wandered up and looked at Damon closely.

"Don't you need to be somewhere else, Damon?" I got the undertone of animosity and I understood why Stefan hadn't mentioned him.

"Nope, I actually came because my girlfriend is friends with yours and because I thought I'd meet Elena's sister." He looked at me, past Stefan's shoulder.

"You need to leave."

"Oh, it's fine!" called Elena. Knowing that she was cool with it, I moved past Stefan.

"You can come in," I said to Damon.


	2. Chapter 2

I watched as the rest of the night went by and Damon just taunted Stefan. Stefan, Damon, Caroline, and I sat in the living room as Bonnie and Elena were cleaning up dishes. Caroline, for once, wasn't saying much. I noticed she was wearing a scarf around her neck, like she had been for the past few days. "Caroline, why are you all of a sudden so interested in scarves?" I asked.

Stefan glanced at me like I'd made a revelation. Caroline frowned and acted like she couldn't answer. Damon looked at me. "She's had a weird day so forgive her for being so… forgetful of things." For some reason, I just knew that that wasn't what this was. Stefan kept looking at me weirdly so I stood and decided to go help Elena with the dishes.

I noticed that Bonnie had already gone home. "They hate each other, don't they?" I asked. Elena nodded. "Why?"

"They apparently both dated the same girl, Katherine. I think they were both really hurt by it because she died and now they just hate each other."

"You would think that if she was gone, they would be fine with each other."

"I can see how he hates Damon, he's a bit of a jerk."

"What has he done to you?"

Elena rolled her eyes and asked me to finish up the dishes. She went to talk to Stefan, I imagine, after the weirdly rough evening he'd had with Damon. "You have one more." I turned around in a fright and saw Damon. "You don't have to be jumpy, you're fine." The voice I'd heard from the other night flashed through my mind. I opened my mouth to ask whether he'd been at the party but he cut me off. "Here you go." He handed me the glass and as I looked up at him, I noticed that his eyes looked weird. It startled me enough that I dropped the glass.

Damon dropped his arm and caught it before it smashed on the ground. "Wow, great reflexes." He smiled at me.

"You and Elena are pretty different from each other, aren't you?" I looked at him skeptically. "I think she's good with Stefan. She makes him smile and I haven't seen that in ages." I practically rolled my eyes. It was like he knew that I was interested and he wanted to torment me.

"Elena told me that you dated the same girl." He nodded. "How did she die, if that's not too personal a question?" He looked away from me.

"In a fire." I nodded.

"Recently?" It seemed like the wound was still fresh on him and it sounded like Stefan still had a hard time with it. After all, she was the reason they hated each other.

"It seems like it was yesterday."

"Which one of you dated her first?"

"Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine." I slanted my eyes at him. "You know, you and Elena have handled losing your parents well. I know what that's like. Stefan told me he noticed that you were down."

"He talks about me?" I asked, simply out of curiosity.

"He said you were getting to be pretty close friends." I nodded again. It was something. Friendship was always a good sign. I wasn't planning on stealing him from Elena.

"Why are you being so nice to me when I can tell you're a bit of a jerk to Caroline and Stefan?" He turned his head a bit and looked at me.

"There's no reason for me to be mean to you. Besides, you're already so skittish." I was a little taken aback by how he'd already figured that out. "But if you insist on being tormented like the others, you ought to know that Elena looks just like her."

"Who?" He raised his eyebrows. "Katherine?" He nodded. "Oh my gosh," I said in shock.

"Well, I really do have to run but I guess I'll see you at the Founder's Party. I wish I wasn't already promised to Caroline or I'd take you." Another thing he said that took me aback.

"That's so nice of you but take Caroline. I know she really likes you." I actually didn't know that. Caroline hadn't said much of anything to me lately. She was acting really weird.

"Goodbye, Scarlett," Damon said and walked out. I followed him to the door and watched as he and Caroline left. Stefan came and stood with me.

"I'm sorry that he was bothering you. He just doesn't understand when he's not welcome," Stefan said.

"Actually, he was really nice to me…" I trailed off, remembering what Damon had said about Elena looking like Katherine. Maybe he wasn't being serious. After all, he had admitted to tormenting people, myself included. That jogged my memory. "Stefan, was Damon at the back to school party?" I asked. His expression changed.

"No, he wasn't." Stefan turned and walked back towards the living room. Somehow, I knew he was lying.

A few days passed and Caroline still wasn't being herself. Another person had been attacked by an animal, this time fatally. I had been asleep at night and woken up, knowing that someone had been in my room, knowing that someone had touched my face or been beside me and it wasn't a nightmare. I didn't think that grief caused these types of hallucinations. After all, I had been getting better. It made me realize that what was going on had to be real.

Stefan had given Elena and I new necklaces. Well, not new. They were antiques. I thought it was sweet that he had given me one too when Elena was his actual girlfriend. I guess we really were verging on being good friends. Stefan was actually a lot looser with me than he was with Elena. He acted happier and I don't know whether it was Elena being depressing that affected him or what.

Finally, it was time for the Founder's Party and I had agreed to go with Tyler Lockwood. He wasn't my first choice but I figured it would get him off my tail for awhile. I hadn't done much besides wear a pretty dress and try to pull my hair back. It wasn't stunning but I did look dressed up. It wasn't long into the party that I realized taking Tyler had been a bad idea. I walked up to Caroline and Damon. "Did you come alone?" asked Damon.

"Unfortunately, no. I came with Tyler Lockwood and he's being such an idiot."

"I'll get him away from you for awhile, Scar." Caroline winked at me and walked away.

"Thank God. Sometimes, she is so annoying," said Damon. I winced a little. She was my best friend.

"Well, tell her thank you whenever she gets back," I said and turned to walk over to Elena and Stefan. Damon followed me. I wasn't sure whether I was bothered by it or whether I actually wanted to be friends with him too.

"Hey!" said Elena as we walked up. "Stefan and I were just looking at the names on the first sign in and it says Damon and Stefan Salvatore."

"The original Salvatore brothers," Stefan explained. I thought that was really cool. I'd always loved history and I appreciated how closely knit our families were to the town in general.

"Tragic story, actually," said Damon.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past, Damon."

"Oh, it's not boring!" I exclaimed. "I love hearing about this stuff." Just then Caroline walked up.

"Well, Scar, he's off your back for good. Vicki showed up tonight." I rolled my eyes.

"Say no more."

"Well, now I'd like to dance but Damon has been denying me all night. Stefan, you wanna dance?" I looked from her to Stefan. He looked skeptical but he agreed. Elena went off to get drinks and I was, yet again, alone with Damon. There was something off about him and I just didn't know what it was.

He began to talk about the history here and I actually got involved in the conversation. Then he moved on to talking about Stefan. "I don't know what's going on between ya'll but I hope you can work it out," I said.

"I hope so too," said Damon. "I hope you're willing to be friends with both of us. I'd hate for you to pick sides."


	3. Chapter 3

After a few days, I noticed that Stefan was always alone when he came by. Not that Damon had ever joined him but I found it curious that he wasn't even mentioned.

When I asked about him, Stefan turned to me and gave me a very stern look. "He left town, Scar. He's a bad person." I loved that Stefan used my nickname.

"Why did he leave town?" I asked. Everyone seemed to be making Damon out to be some kind of monster and I didn't understand it.

"He was abusing Caroline," Elena later told me. "When she started wearing scarves, it was to cover up wounds." I was more than a little shocked. Needless to say, I didn't like Damon anymore. "I saw her in the bathroom at the party and she accidentally showed me some mark on her back and they were everywhere! I mean, he hurt her and she didn't tell anyone."

"I knew there was something weird about him," I said, now totally wary of Damon.

"Speaking of weird, something's up with Stefan." I looked at her weirdly. This was the first time she'd ever brought him up with me. Elena was very private about her relationship with him and it made me think that she realized I liked him.

"Don't tell me he's anything like Damon," I said, almost jokingly. Then I looked at Elena closely, this was not a joke.

"After the car wash today," she began. I hadn't gone. "I went with Logan Fell to the news station because this older guy had come up to Stefan and acted like he knew him, he said something about how Stefan hadn't aged. When I saw the guy again at the car wash, he told me that he remembered Stefan from the 1950's." My eyes widened. "I went to the news station and looked and sure enough, there were animal attacks back then. They closed in on the Salvatore boarding house and Stefan was there. I mean, it was him. No doubt about it. What does that mean?" My heart had started racing.

"That makes no sense to me. But you know, now that you mention it, I could've sworn I've seen him get hurt and yet have no injuries." Elena nodded, she had too. "I mean, with Bonnie's witchy intuition and everything, I have to say I'm a little more open to stuff. If he wasn't always out in the sun, I would guess he's a vampire." Elena sat down and put her head in her hands.

"Oh my God, he is one. I can't do this." She started breathing heavily and I got worried.

"It's not my real opinion, Elena!" I said, hoping to calm her down. But I knew she knew. This was real. The freaky animal attacks, the idea that someone had come into my room at night, Stefan never aging. It all fit.

"It's true, isn't it?" I gulped. Elena was too sensible to believe in anything like this.

"You should talk to him about it. That's the only way we'll get answers." She turned and looked up at me.

"You go. He'll tell you. All he's done lately is lie to me." Katherine and Elena looking alike ran through my head. "Seriously, go and you can tell me. I'd rather hear it from you."

I quickly went and got in the car. I shakily buckled my seatbelt and hassled to turn the key in the ignition. The entire drive to Stefan's house was terrible. I was certain I was going insane. He couldn't possibly be a vampire. I parked the car and turned it off but left the keys in the ignition in case I needed to run away. I didn't even have a chance to knock on the door before Stefan had opened it, holding a stake in his hand. He dropped it immediately. I looked up at him, a little more than scared, and prepared to lose him as a friend forever because of what I was going to ask him.

"What are you?" I asked. He fumbled with his hands and I noticed how handsome he looked. _Snap out of it. _

"Scarlett, I-" he began.

"No, just tell me what you are." He began to move closer to me and I backed away. "Elena told me what she knows and I think I've got it figured out but I need to hear it from you."

"I'm a vampire," he said reluctantly. I backed away again and made a noise that almost sounded like a sob. I put my hands to my mouth and Stefan came towards me. "Don't be scared of me." I turned and took off towards my car. Immediately, Stefan appeared in front of me. I screamed. "Please, don't run from me, Scar." I pushed away from him and got in my car, thankful I'd left the keys in the ignition. Once I got home, I quickly ran into my room and shut the door. Elena wasn't here and neither was Jeremy or Jenna.

I felt a draft and immediately turned. Stefan was standing in front of my open window. I ran and tried to open my bedroom door to get out. I felt him push me against the door and force it closed. I almost couldn't help crying. "I'm not here to hurt you," he whispered while not moving away from me. "Just please let me explain." I whimpered against the doorframe and nodded. He moved enough away from me so that I could turn a bit and I was taken by surprise when he hugged me against the door. I gasped a little and reluctantly hugged him back.

"Did you do that to those people?" I asked, not knowing whether I wanted an answer.

"No, that was Damon. I don't drink from humans." I was still trying to take this in. He finally moved away from me and I sat on my bed with him.

"Damon is a vampire too." It wasn't a question. I actually should've figured him for one before I even considered Stefan. "He wasn't exactly… abusing Caroline, was he? He was feeding from her."

"She didn't know it. He compelled her to forget." I nodded a little. I figured she hadn't known. "The necklace I gave you contains an herb called vervaine and it makes sure he can't compel you."

"What exactly is compelling?" I asked.

"He'll look in your eyes and you'll go blank. Sometimes, vampires do it to get honest answers but most of the time, they do it to be able to feed on someone and make them forget it."

"And vervaine will make sure they can't do it to us?" He nodded.

"It's in the necklace I gave to Elena too. Listen, I'm going to make sure that Damon leaves so he no longer poses a threat. I understand if you don't want to be friends with me any longer."

"No, I do. This actually doesn't matter much to me now that I know you won't hurt me." He smiled a bit.

"I'm going to talk to Elena about it now. I doubt she'll take it as well as you have."


	4. Chapter 4

A few days passed and everything had sunk in. Elena was still reeling from the discovery but given the circumstances, we were both good with it. I knew how old they were, I knew Katherine was from 1864, I understood everything.

A few nights after my initial meeting with Stefan about being a vampire, Damon showed up in my room. I was startled. "Can you get away from me please?" I asked, shyly. Damon made no move towards the window he'd just come in from. I sighed a little. Damon scared me now that I knew what he had done to the other people.

"Stefan told you what we are, didn't he?" asked Damon. He began moving toward me and I stumbled to get off my bed and get away from him. He moved in front of me the way Stefan had. I gasped. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Then please leave," I said. Damon smiled like he was enjoying my fear.

"I've been invited in," he said. "You did it yourself, you know."

"Do you come in here a lot? Like into my room at night?" He looked at me like he wasn't even confused and he shook his head.

"I'm not here to creep you out. I told you, you're already so skittish." I nodded a bit but he was still too close for my comfort.

"Then why are you here?" I asked, indignant.

"Stefan prefers to leave you out of this just because he thinks you're so terrified of me." Damon grinned like he either didn't think it was true or he was very happy it was. "I just don't think it's fair that your sister gets to be involved with our vampire stuff and you don't."

"I'm happily uninvolved. Thanks for your concern though. You fed on Caroline, you know. She's my best friend so I'm not forgiving you for that lightly." I know I sounded angry but I kind of was.

"I'm not apologizing for it. There, that's settled." I opened my mouth a little to reveal my shock at how he simply didn't care about her life. It occurred to me that I really didn't know Damon very well though, certainly not as well as I knew Stefan. "I'm a vampire, Scar. What do you expect? You want me to sparkle and pretend I don't drink blood?" I quaked at him using my nickname like he knew me personally. "I am a monster and I don't make apologies for it." He paused. "I'm sorry I've scared you."

I shook my head. "I'm glad you're being honest with me but knowing you kill people is just so disconcerting. It makes me nervous." He looked down at me and his eyes seemed to be glowing.

"Listen, Scarlett, you don't need to be frightened of me. I won't hurt you." I didn't exactly believe him but I nodded. My instincts were telling me to run from him but my head told me to pretend I wasn't that scared.

"Why are you here? What's on the vampire agenda today?"

"Vicki Donovan. She's a vampire now…" I almost started smiling.

"That's a joke, right? I just learn about the existence of vampires and you make one…"

"I'm not joking. It wasn't my fault for once. There are people in town who know about vampires and want to kill us."

"Excuse me?" I asked. The more I learned about this vampire stuff, the more I wished I hadn't known about it.

"Stefan wants you to come over. Elena's already there. We'll explain everything."

"Damon, why do you want me to get involved? Isn't it more dangerous for you this way?" He looked down at me, making a sort of weird eye movement that I assumed he did all the time.

"I wanna be your friend, is that so hard to believe?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Scarlett, Stefan keeps trying to make me leave and Elena makes it no secret that she despises me. They both love you and you have never been a bitch to me. I kind of thought we were friends." Damon said all this almost like it was funny.

"We were before I knew you killed people and before you made Caroline your personal meal ticket."

"Scar, I am a vampire," Damon said moving towards me again. I backed against a wall and he pressed against me, putting his hands to my face. "I won't hurt you or Elena, okay?" I nodded just because he was so close to me. Then he backed away. "Let's go before Stefan gets worried again."

"He gets worried about me?" I asked. I knew it sounded like some stupid schoolgirl crush but I couldn't help asking. Damon moved past me and out my bedroom door. I followed quickly.

"He gets worried that I'll hurt you." My heart pounded a bit. That was a weird thing to be worried about when I'm not his girlfriend. "Just another thing that pisses me off about him."

"It pisses you off that he gets worried or that he thinks you'll hurt someone?"

He almost laughed. "That he thinks I'll hurt you." I didn't understand what that meant but I went with him back to the Salvatore house anyway. I had been lied to, Elena was not here, but unfortunately, Vicki was and she wasn't happy to see me. Apparently, being a new vampire meant that her emotions were heightened. She hadn't liked me since she thought that Tyler was interested in me.

"Stefan, there was no mention in the paper of that guy I killed." I winced. "They must be trying to cover it up." Stefan looked at me apologetically.

"If you're so worried about it, why don't you just leave town?" asked Stefan.

Damon snorted. "We should all be worried."

"Um, as nice as it is to be included in the vampire stuff, why am I here for this meeting and Elena isn't?" I asked.

"Elena's coming," said Stefan.

"I'm hungry," said Vicki. I rolled my eyes. If it was possible, I liked her less now than I had as a human. I watched as Stefan handed her a glass and I could only guess what was inside. "What is this?"

"It's what you're craving," said Stefan.

"It's so not what you're craving but it'll do in a pinch," said Damon.

"I'm just gonna-" I began, as I started moving towards the door. Damon shook his head.

"Get used to it," said Damon.

"I'd rather she not be here, Damon. This is probably revolting to her and she's not going to be friends with us anymore," said Stefan. I ended up staying and watching as they had some conversation about morals and how she could choose her own path. It was hard to watch. Eventually, Elena came and Damon left. Stefan and I spent some time with each other that I have to admit was torture just because I like him so much.

Then I had to get ready for the Halloween party at school.


	5. Chapter 5

My costume was basically some Renaissance princess dress. I put a fake crown in my hair and braided it. The dress was dark green and it matched my eyes and my dark hair looked nice next to it. I left with Jeremy. All of a sudden he was interested in going. He wasn't even wearing a costume. Once I got there, Elena texted me. Apparently, Vicki was here tonight. She'd gotten away from Stefan and Damon and they were coming to find her. The text also mentioned that Vicki and Jeremy had been seeing each other for months. No one could have told me this earlier?

I raced through the school after running into Bonnie and Caroline. I needed to find Jeremy and make sure that she hadn't hurt him. I turned and asked Bonnie whether she'd seen him and she said no. I hurried down a dark hall that was part of the haunted attraction and someone pushed me up against the wall. It was none other than Vicki.

"You had to come tonight, didn't you? Who did you wear this for? Tyler?" she screeched.

"There is nothing going on between me and Tyler," I gasped, terrified at her fangs. "You know that. Just please leave Jeremy alone."

"I want to be with Jeremy and you are not gonna ruin this. I'll kill you and I won't think twice about it." Then she turned her head and disappeared. I put my hand to my chest and almost screamed. I was scared of her.

I looked up and Elena had come up to me, wearing a slutty looking nurse's outfit. I had seen Matt wearing the matching one. They had both worn these costumes last year when they were dating. I looked over her shoulder and saw Stefan and Damon standing there. "She wants Jeremy," I told Elena. She ran off with Stefan to go find him and Damon came up to me.

"So you decided to be a princess for Halloween?" he asked. I rolled my eyes a bit. "We'll probably have to kill Vicki, you know."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"She's already tried to hurt you and no doubt, she'll hurt Jeremy. Elena and Stefan will try to sugarcoat it but just know, she's probably already dead." Damon patted me on the shoulder and started walking outside after Stefan and Elena.

"Damon!" I said, quickly. He turned. "She doesn't have to die! Let me come with-"

"No." He cut me off. "She clearly has it out for you. Stay here or better yet, go on home. I don't want you to get hurt." I saw that he actually seemed worried so I nodded.

"Please just… Just make sure she doesn't hurt Jeremy."

"I promise. We'll be over soon after this is taken care of." I stayed at the party a little while longer, hanging with Caroline and Bonnie but I was too nervous to stay the rest of the night. I knew things were going less than savory with Vicki so I booked it home in time to meet them. I sat on the porch and saw Jeremy storm by, tears streaming down his face. I rose and saw Stefan approaching the house with an injured Elena in tow and Damon carrying up the rear.

"I take it you killed her," I said once they came up on the porch. Elena went inside to help her cuts.

"I did," said Stefan. I was shocked. I would've assumed it was Damon. "She was trying to hurt Jeremy and when Damon threw her off, she turned on Elena. I staked her." I exchanged a look with Damon, knowing he had kept his word to help Jeremy.

"So Jeremy knows?" I asked carefully. I hadn't wanted Jeremy to know. For the most part, I thought he was too young for this and after all, he hadn't handled our parents' death well. Now he'd seen his girlfriend murdered in front of him. Stefan nodded. "He was just starting to get better too." I felt a little heartbroken for Jeremy.

"I'm sorry about this, Scar," Stefan said, looking at me so genuinely. I wasn't mad at him.

"You didn't do anything wrong, I just wish he didn't know. I mean, I wish he thought Vicki had just left town or something. After our parents' death, I just don't know how he'll deal with this." Elena had come back outside, crying because of how hurt Jeremy was.

"I want him to forget this," said Elena.

"That's what I thought earlier," I said. "He won't handle her death well and now he knows about vampires too."

"Scarlett," I heard Damon say. I turned and looked at him. "I can compel him to forget if that's really what you want." Elena was clearly still upset by it and she was making even Stefan be upset. My heart was pained for Jeremy. I knew it was a bad idea but I nodded.

"Please do it," I said to Damon.

"I'll say what you said earlier; that she left town without a word and I'll make him forget the vampires." Damon went inside and a few minutes later, he returned. "It's done."

"Thank you so much," I responded.


	6. Chapter 6

A couple of days later, I went with Elena to the grill because Stefan's best friend, Lexi, was in town and it was his birthday. I saw Damon around but he'd been busy lately, trying to make sure the Council wasn't catching on to anything about the vampires being in town. I was introduced to Lexi and I thought she was a cool person. She seemed to like me and Elena. She was a vampire too. She made it no secret that she wasn't a fan of Damon. Yet again, I wasn't really understanding why everyone hated him so much, especially other vampires.

But as I was to talking to a very drunk Caroline, I noticed Sheriff Forbes walk up to the bar with a couple of cops and they grabbed Lexi. I exchanged a look with Stefan and Elena. Elena got up and went to the bathroom, I assume to look around back. Stefan and I dashed outside. We hid on the side of the building and watched as Lexi hissed at Sheriff Forbes. "No!" I whispered. I began to move forward when Stefan pulled me back into him and held me there. I would've been ecstatic if I'd thought about it. But as Lexi began to inch towards the sheriff I noticed Damon behind her. I was relieved. He was practically a member of the Council. No doubt, he could help Lexi.

Then I noticed that Damon had a stake. "Stefan," I whispered. He immediately turned my head away and into his shoulder. It didn't matter. I heard Lexi die. And Damon had killed her. "I'm so sorry," I said to Stefan. He hugged me for awhile longer until Elena showed up. Before Stefan could explain, I turned to her. "Damon killed Lexi." Elena was livid and no doubt, Stefan was too.

I went home that night alone because Elena went with Stefan to cheer him up. I wasn't alone for very long though. Damon came swinging by. "Get out," I said, angry. He raised his eyebrows.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked saucily.

"Seriously, Damon, what you did tonight wasn't cool." I looked at him, not standing down. "Please leave."

"It had to be done. It's gotten the trail off of me and Stefan."

"Okay, first of all, _Stefan_ didn't kill anyone. You did." He nodded.

"So _I'm _the one who took care of it." I crossed my arms and pretended I didn't hear him.

"Second of all, that could've been taken care of without hurting Lexi, who you know was Stefan's best friend."

"Well, Scarlett, I think you're Stefan's best friend now so it shouldn't really matter. I didn't like her anyway." It appalled me that he apparently had no regard for anyone else's life but his own.

"Is there a reason you came back here? I know once you leave, Stefan will be happier."

"Who said I was leaving if I get what I want? And uh, do you have a crush on Stefan?" I opened my mouth to respond. "Oh, it's clear you do. I just figured I'd ask. Wanting the guy your sister is with, that's a bad situation."

"You would know," I responded. "You never told me what you wanted."

He sighed and looked at me like he decided he couldn't lie about it. "Emily, a witch that Bonnie is descended from, was Katherine's handmaid and she ensured that Katherine was safe. There was a tomb under the church where the vampires were to have burned and she's down there, safe." I remembered the story of the burning because Stefan had told me. "Witches use celestial events like comets to help them." I understood which comet he had been talking about. "Bad thing is, comets only come around ever so often and it's needed to break that spell sealing her in the tomb."

"I don't understand why you still love her when she was as mean as she was to you and Stefan." He looked down at me, very genuinely.

"I just do. Besides, I would want someone to break me out of that tomb."

"What do you need for it?" I asked. "Can I help you?"

"Do you really want to be rid of me that much?" I shook my head.

"I think you love her. But if she comes out, you have to leave. Stefan won't let you stay here with her."

"You remember what I told you about Elena and Katherine looking alike?" I nodded, still totally shocked by it. "I think she's gonna find out tonight."

"Is that why Stefan's interested in Elena?" Damon narrowed his eyes and appeared to be thinking. Then he shook his head.

"They're nothing alike in personality." I felt a little reassured by that but of course, when Elena found out, she didn't think that way. She got up and left, wrecked her car, and luckily, Damon was around. But he didn't bring her home, he took her to Atlanta.

I was in bed when I got the news via Stefan shaking me awake after coming in through my window. I was going to have to put bars on that thing if I had any prayer of privacy. "What is it?" I moaned as I woke up.

"Do you know where Elena is?" asked Stefan. "I've been calling her and calling her and she hasn't answered."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, wondering why she wasn't speaking to him. Then I remembered what Damon had said.

"Something happened and she left my house last night."

"I'll call her." I grabbed my phone and speed dialed her number. I heard the phone pick up but it wasn't Elena who answered.

"Scarlett, I was beginning to wonder when I'd hear from you." _Damon has her, _I thought.

"Where are ya'll?" I asked. Stefan gave me a look of desperation when he recognized Damon's voice on the line.

"Stefan's with you, isn't he? I'm not gonna tell you while he can hear."

"He's worried sick. Why would you tell me and not him? What happened?"

"What I told you would happen last night."

"Just bring her back soon." I hung up the phone defeated. "I guess you heard what he had to say." Stefan nodded. "She's probably safe with him. She just needed to blow off steam about what happened, wouldn't you think?"

"I didn't realize you and Damon were such good friends." Stefan clearly didn't want us to be.

"I told him we'd help him get Katherine back as long as he left once she came out." He raised his dark eyebrows.

"I had thought about that plan myself but the more I think about it, the more I realize that she shouldn't come out. None of them should."

"I'm sure he'd understand that-"

"No, Scarlett, he wouldn't. Unless by some miracle, he gets magically over her, he won't understand that."


	7. Chapter 7

I got around to painting my nails before the 50s decade dance at school. I loved painting my nails, it was so calming. The new history teacher, Alaric Saltzman, was encouraging us all to go because he was chaperoning. I was fine with going. Stefan and I had come up with a plan to pretend to help Damon get Katherine back, a plan that left out Elena. Stefan didn't want Damon near her. I was already feeling guilty about lying to Damon. We had become pretty good friends.

I heard a commotion downstairs as I was putting on my poodle skirt and assumed it was Stefan and Elena doing something stupid. But Damon was supposed to be with Stefan because we were going to the dance in a group. Where was he?

I went downstairs and called to Elena before Stefan busted into the room through the front door and I saw that a vampire was trying to attack Elena. I tried to move towards her but Damon immediately hindered me. The vampire that had attacked her escaped and Damon finally let me go. "What was that?" I asked. "How was he invited in?"

Elena shook her head. "I don't know what he was trying to do."

"Should we not go tonight?" I asked.

"I've been looking forward to this all week, of course, we're still going," responded Damon.

"But what if he's at school? He was clearly targeting Elena."

"You're such a genius, Scar," said Damon sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. I was pretty smart sometimes though.

"We can't keep forcing both of you to stop having a normal life," said Stefan. "If he's there, so are we. I think we need answers about what he was doing here anyway." I nodded reluctantly. We went to the dance and of course, the vampire was there.

He called Elena and threatened Jeremy's life. Damon and Stefan took care of him but not before they heard that he had been messing with Elena because she looked like Katherine. "So he knew Katherine?" I asked.

"It sounds like other people know about the tomb," said Elena.

"Then we need to figure out something fast." Stefan and I exchanged a look and immediately looked away from each other, my face burning hot. I went home with Elena and while she got caught up with Jenna, I saw Stefan in my room. "I don't get why we're sneaking around like this," I said to him, hesitantly. It was making me feel like we were having an affair.

Stefan smiled at me and my heart pounded a bit. "I don't want Elena near Damon. I don't want you near him either but he clearly thinks of himself as your friend." I nodded. Damon and I _were _friends. I wasn't denying that. "He trusts you."

"I think I'm having a change of heart." Stefan moved a bit closer to me.

"We can't let her out. You know that." I nodded again.

"I- I do but I don't want to hurt Damon. What if he figures out what we're doing and hurts Elena anyway or hurts me?"

"He would never hurt you. You're his only friend."

"And if I do this, he won't have any." Stefan looked down at me, knowing I was clearly conflicted. "I just feel so bad for him. Maybe you should give him a chance. I still think if we just talk to him-"

"Scarlett, you don't get it. He's insane and he's a monster and he'll do anything to get her back." I bit my lower lip and slouched in defeat. "Now I saw him reading my father's journal the other day and I think he needs Emily's spell book, her grimoire. They burned Emily and took her things so I'm thinking, it's probably buried."

"I'll help you." The next day, we discovered that Alaric, the new history teacher was actually a vampire hunter and Stefan went to talk to him. While I was waiting for Damon to come over, Elena pulled me aside.

"I have something to tell you," she whispered. I nodded, knowing that it was serious. "I think… No, I know, that I am adopted."

"Excuse me?" I gasped.

"Listen, Stefan had started doing this research when he saw how much I looked like Katherine and he knew she wasn't related to the Gilberts."

"What are you saying? Your birth certificate, everything points otherwise!"

"Jenna says a woman named Isobel dropped me near the hospital and our mom and dad had wanted a child for so long that they just put their names on my birth certificate. It was right afterward they figured out that mom was pregnant with you."

"Oh my gosh." That explained why we were so close in age. It didn't explain how no one asked any questions about my mom not being noticeably pregnant with Elena but I didn't bother to ask.

"Jenna also mentioned that Alaric's wife, who's dead, was named Isobel and was from around here."

"I'm just a little bit in shock right now."

"It doesn't change anything."

"No, of course not, but are you going to find out more about her?" She nodded at me as Damon rang the doorbell. I let him in and we sat down with each other.

"So you're actually willing to help me with this? You just want to get rid of me?" he asked, smirking at me. I cracked a smile, which was unusual when I was around him.

"It's not like that and you know it." Especially since I didn't plan on him finding her again at all.

"I need you to be honest with me, Scar." He became totally serious and his use of my nickname made me feel more nervous than I already was and I didn't know why. "Is Stefan really trying to help me or is he planning some kind of trick?" He did that eye thing he always did at me and looked at me straight. My heart started pounding and I could've sworn he could hear it.

"You can trust him," I said nervously.

"I figured he wouldn't involve the innocent sister with some dastardly plan but you never know."

"Why do you think I'm so innocent?" I asked.

"You act so nervous around me, like you think I'm gonna kill you."

"And you might!" I exclaimed.

"But you're so timid and you're so shy around Stefan, it's kind of cute." I was certain I blushed. I didn't think it was so blaringly obvious that I cared about Stefan as more than a friend but as we became closer and closer, I suppose it was starting to show.

"He doesn't know, does he?" I asked, practically whispering in case he was near. Damon bit his lower lip.

"No, of course not." Before I had a chance to say anything else, Stefan arrived at the house. Luckily, Elena had left to hang out with Caroline. Damon went to talk to someone who the vampire they killed the night before had known and Damon said that he knew too. It was night and Stefan and I went to dig up the grimoire before Damon knew anything the wiser.

I kept digging even when Stefan told me he could do it on his own. I figured I was only dead weight if I didn't contribute. Stefan broke open the casket we dug to and I looked away as he found the book and handed it up to me. After I struggled to find his hand without looking at the corpse, I grabbed the grimoire. Stefan had just gotten out of the grave when Damon showed up. Stefan had the book.

"I figured there was something off about this," said Damon. I winced. He looked incredibly angry and I was frightened of him. Stefan had his hand on my arm but that wasn't steadying my heartbeat or making me feel better. "I expected this from you, Stefan, but you," he turned to me, "you had me completely fooled."

"Damon, I-" I started but my voice cracked from fear and he bared his teeth at me. I'm pretty sure I gasped because Stefan moved in front of me. It didn't matter. Within a few seconds, Damon had thrown Stefan, while he was holding the book, away from me. I screamed a bit, quite certain he would kill me. Damon dashed behind me and pulled me into him while moving my head to the side so he could get near my neck. I wanted to scream but he had put his hand to my mouth.

I kept my eyes on Stefan as he got up and looked genuinely scared for me. I could feel tears welling up and Damon kept pulling me closer to him. I could feel him bending into me and putting his face next to mine.

"Don't hurt her!" said Stefan.

"Oh, I've got a good idea," said Damon, forcing my head back normally and taking his hand away from my mouth. I grabbed his arm that was holding me back and then all of a sudden, he forced his wrist to my mouth. I started struggling when I tasted blood. My eyes widened and I saw Stefan falter, practically dropping the grimoire. "Give me the book or I'll snap her neck and we can have a new vampire girlfriend." I struggled against Damon some more. I could've sworn that Stefan was almost to the point of tears.

"You've made sure you'll get it, just let her go," begged Stefan. I could almost hear the smirk on Damon's face.

"You hear that, Scarlett?" he whispered in my ear. "Sounds like Stefan's a little confused about you too." I winced. "I want the book first," said Damon at normal speaking level to Stefan. Stefan threw the book at Damon's feet and Damon thrust me toward Stefan.

Stefan practically to me and took me in his arms. I started crying and I clung to him. "Keep away from her," said Stefan and we left.

I got in the car beside Stefan, still shaking. "I'm so sorry, Scarlett," said Stefan and I noticed that he really had been near crying. I pulled my feet up on my seat and tucked them underneath my legs. I was freezing on top of everything.

"It's not your fault," I said. Stefan was staring at me so I looked back, embarrassed that I was still crying even when I hadn't been bitten.

"The blood won't stay in your system long." I nodded at him.

"Stefan, can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything," he said without faltering. He truly was my best friend.

"When you take me home, don't let me stay alone, okay?" He nodded at me and he grabbed my hand and I felt heat rush through me.

"Damon's going to apologize to you, you know?"

"Why did you tell him to keep away from me?" I asked as he started driving.

"Because that could've easily gone a different way. I already lost Lexi because of him, I can't lose you too."


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up the next morning to hearing someone, I assumed Jeremy, pounding on my door. I rolled over and noticed I wasn't alone on my bed. Stefan was lying on top of the blankets while I was underneath them. I scrambled to move away from him and ended up falling out of the bed. "Just a second, Jer!" I called. I had forgotten I'd asked Stefan to stay.

Well, actually, I hadn't told him specifically to lay on the bed _with me. _I figured he'd leave once I was asleep. I got flustered and stood up and noticed that Stefan was already standing too. I gasped. Vampires' fast reflexes weren't going to be something I got used to immediately. _What the heck is going on? Why is he still here? _I wondered.

I opened the door to my bedroom, crossing my arms. I saw Jeremy look from me to Stefan questioningly and I automatically moved my hand to try to fix my hair. "What is it?" I asked.

"Where's Elena?" he asked.

"How should I know?" My head was pounding thanks to Damon's blood in my system.

"Then where were you last night?"

"I was hanging out with the Salvatores, I told you that. And Elena was out with Caroline, wasn't she?" Of course, the term "hanging out" was not exactly what Stefan, Damon, and I were doing last night.

"She got home pretty early and Anna was over then Anna was gone and I didn't check until this morning but I can't find Elena."

"Wait, Anna?" asked Stefan, moving beside me. Him being so near was making me extremely nervous and I didn't like it. Jeremy nodded at Stefan, confused then Stefan grabbed my hand and said, "Let's go." He pulled me past Jeremy and out of the house.

"Who is Anna?" I asked.

"Apparently, Jeremy's girlfriend and she's the daughter of Katherine's best friend, Pearl, who is in the tomb." Stefan looked at me like he was expecting me to have a break through. He opened the car door for me and I got in, still pondering who Anna was. As Stefan got in beside me, I understood it.

"Anna's here to get into the tomb?" Stefan nodded. "And she took Elena?"

"I think so."

"Where are we going?" I asked as he drove off. He kept his eyes straight and fidgeted his hands along the wheel. "Stefan, where are you taking me?"

"Damon has to know where Anna is." My eyes widened.

"Take me back home now! I can't see him."

"He'll tell you where Anna is. He won't tell me."

"Stefan, I don't understand what you're saying. He clearly is mad at me right now. Besides _him_ being mad at _me_, Damon almost killed me last night. Who's to say that he won't do the same today? He hasn't had the time to cool off. He won't tell us where she is. What if Jeremy knows and we just ignored that option?"

"She took Elena. You know that Damon is our best lead. Anna is a vampire, she won't have told Jeremy very much at all."

"Why is she around Jeremy period?" I asked, protective of Jeremy.

"It's clear she wanted Elena. I think Damon mentioned the Gilbert journal."

"No, Jeremy or Alaric has that. Jeremy had a paper on it." Stefan shook his head.

"They don't have it anymore."

"You mean to tell me that not only did she take Elena and play Jeremy, but she stole our family's journal? Yeah, we need to get her back."

"I'm glad you see what we have to do."

"Why do I have to talk to him, again?" I asked as he pulled up in front of the Salvatore house. "I knew that playing him for a fool was a stupid idea."

"I keep wanting to apologize to you but I don't know what to say." He gave me this pained look and it made me feel terrible.

"It's on me, I know that. I guess I'll have to face Damon sometime, I just don't want it to be today." I could tell Stefan was about to tell me not to worry about it but I felt like he'd done a lot for me over the past day. I owed him, no matter how scared I was. "Should I go in alone?"

"No, I'll- I'll come with you." He sounded happy that I'd agreed and I knew he was worried about Elena. I was too but it wasn't to the point Stefan was at.

We walked in the house and my nerves were already getting the best of me. Damon greeted us as we walked in. He looked really good. _Why am I thinking about this when he almost killed me last night? _

"Oh, what did you two do last night?" asked Damon saucily. Stefan rolled his eyes and walked off, obviously trying to force me to talk to Damon alone. "Obviously, he doesn't wanna talk about it." Damon pursed his lips. "I didn't figure you'd be back around here so soon."

"Believe me, it wasn't my choice," I said. "I need to know where Anna is. She kidnapped Elena." I decided to be straight and to the point and to pretend that I wasn't so scared to be in a room alone with him.

"I don't believe I know," he said, leveling his eyes at me.

"I'm so sorry about last night. I had second thoughts before it happened but…"

"But Stefan talked you into it." I shook my head fiercely.

"No, I'm not trying to blame him. Listen, you've got the grimoire now. All we want is Elena back."

"It seems like you're doing just fine without her." I bit my lower lip and I heard something fall in the house. It sounded like Stefan heard the insinuation too.

"Damon, please. I've never asked anything of you. She's my sister," I begged.

"It's funny, when I asked something of you, you stabbed me in the back." He looked down at me angrily and I backed away.

"I said, I'm sorry. What else do you want?" He got extremely close to me and I cringed.

"Do you think it's smart to do this with Stefan when he's dating Elena?" he whispered. I bit my lower lip and clenched my fists. I hated to admit it but Damon was kind of hurting my feelings. I told him those things in confidence, trusting that he wouldn't tell Stefan or Elena.

"I can look for her and find her faster without these stupid games." I turned to walk out the door when Damon grabbed my hand.

"You knew you weren't in danger last night, didn't you?" My lips parted in confusion.

"Yeah, you forcing me to drink your blood really convinced me of that."

"I'll tell you and Stefan where Anna is but you won't go with him when he finds Elena." I opened my mouth to speak but he talked over me. "But you will be there tonight when Bonnie opens the tomb so I can get Katherine out." I thought it was a stupid thing to agree to on my part but after all, I wasn't kind to him the night before.

"You've got a deal."

"I'm really sorry about last night. I just- I do a lot of things that I don't have to. I don't want you to be scared of me or mad at me." I nodded at him.

"I'll only accept your apology if you accept mine." He nodded back.

That night, I arrived at the tomb with Stefan and Elena, happy to have her back safe and sound. Bonnie and her Grams were already there. I was bundled up in a jacket because it was freezing and we were anxiously awaiting Damon. I was really nervous about the night because I didn't want Damon to find Katherine again. I didn't want him to be forced to leave. "Do you think he'll come of the tomb with her?" asked Bonnie. I shrugged, I didn't want him to but I knew he that he would come out with her.

Then Damon strode up, carrying the grimoire in hand. "Let's do this," he said. We all moved down toward the door of the tomb and Bonnie's Grams lit some torches for the elements. I saw Stefan wrap his arm around and Elena and I turned to Damon, who was standing right beside me.

"What is that?" I asked, when I saw Damon holding a blood bag from the hospital.

"It's for Katherine. I gotta have something to get her going. Unless you're willing to tap a vein or something." I stepped back from him. He was still too pissy from the night before.

Then Bonnie and Grams began the spell to open the door and within minutes, the door opened. "It worked," said Bonnie.

"Don't we have some fires to build?" asked Damon. We planned on burning the other vampires in the tomb who weren't Katherine.

"We'll go get the gasoline," said Stefan, referring to himself and Elena. I didn't like that they went without me but it wasn't my choice. Once they left, Damon turned to me.

"Are you ready?" he asked, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him.

"What?" I asked, a little in shock.

"You think I'd go in there alone so they can seal me in?" he asked. My heart started pounding. I didn't want to go in there. What if one of the vampires was able to drink my blood? Or what if, once Damon found Katherine, I somehow got locked inside?

"No, Damon, please, don't take me," I begged.

"Don't take her in there!" said Grams. "I'll bring the walls down."

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?" asked Damon saucily, still keeping me close beside him. He turned to me and whispered, "I promise you won't come to any harm. I need the leverage."

I understood what he meant and I said, "I'll go. He needs to make sure you won't just lock him in once he gets inside." We walked inside and Damon kept his hand laced with mine so I wouldn't fall behind.

I heard whispers once I walked in and I was getting creeped out. As if I needed to be anymore scared than I already was. "What is that?" I asked, fearfully.

"They can sense you," said Damon and I made a noise between a whimper and a sob. "Don't worry about it. They're too weak to hurt you." Then Damon dropped my hand and went to look for Katherine. I felt along the wall to go find him but then I heard something. I turned and saw Anna.

"I made a decision a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that woke my mother up. I had Jeremy all ready but I guess you'll do," she said.

"What?" I screeched as she pushed me down on top of what I assume was her mother and bit open my wrist. I screamed as I could feel her finally reacting to my blood.

"Let her go!" I heard as I felt Anna get ripped away from me and I got pulled up. I noticed it was Stefan who had saved me and he said, "Get out of here! I'm right behind you, I promise." I nodded and ran out of the tomb.

As I got out, I saw Bonnie and Grams and Elena sitting behind them. "Scarlett," Bonnie began, "Stefan-"

"He's right behind me," I said, cutting her off and turning to look back at the tomb door. There was Stefan on the other side of the threshold. "What are you doing? Come on," I said to him.

"It's okay," said Bonnie, "we'll fix it."

"Well, what do you mean, fix it? What's going on?" I asked, seeing Elena obviously distraught.

"I can't," said Stefan.

"You can't what?"

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out but we're working on it," said Bonnie.

I turned back to Stefan. "You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" He looked down and back up at me then he nodded. "Oh no," I breathed.

"I heard you scream," said Stefan, as if that was the best and only reason he had. "I had to." I parted my lips and almost started crying.

"They'll get you out and you need to get Damon," I said.

"Even if we're able to break the spell," began Grams, "we won't be able to hold it for long."

"Go get him now," I said to Stefan. After awhile of Bonnie and Grams trying, I knew the seal was breaking but there was still no sign of Stefan or Damon. Elena was clearly distraught and I was just so in shock by the whole thing that I was numb. I looked back at them and then I took off running into the tomb. I was the reason Stefan was in here in the first place and I owed Damon. As I got near them, I heard Damon yelling about Katherine not being in the tomb. I raced towards them and said, "Damon, please. You can't be locked in here, please."

He looked over at me and seemed to calm down a bit and he came with us. As soon as we got out of the tomb, Stefan hugged me to him and I smiled. Elena ran and stole Stefan away from us to go get Jeremy. Damon looked terribly sad and I knew that he was disappointed. So I grabbed him and pulled him close to me. "I'm so sorry," I said. I held him for a lot longer than I should have.


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days were hectic with Damon acting out because Katherine wasn't in the tomb and because Elena was finding information on her birth mother. Elena's birth mother, Isobel, had been Alaric's wife and it came to the light that Damon had been the one to kill her. Stefan and I stayed out of it, knowing that neither of their problems had anything to do with us.

A couple more days passed with Elena being unforgiving with Damon for turning Isobel but then Damon showed up in my room one day. "Damon, you can't just come in through my window whenever you please!" I exclaimed. "I'm trying to actually do my homework for once."

"Listen, this is important." I turned to look up at him from my desk. He looked disheveled and uncomfortable. I knew the issue actually was serious. "It's about Stefan. Elena already knows and as predicted, is being a loose cannon."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The tomb vampires got out."

"That's impossible." He shook his head at me solemnly. "They took him, didn't they?"

"They want revenge on us for being in the tomb so long so they took Stefan and he can't get out or do anything because he doesn't drink human blood. He can't even hold his own. They are torturing him in there." My confusion was only growing greater.

"I don't understand. They have a house you couldn't get into?"

"They're keeping the owner alive so that no vampire besides them is invited in. I've already worked on a plan with Ric since he has a lot of weapons."

"What can I do?" I asked, assuming he only informed me of Stefan being kidnapped because he needed my help.

"When I get Stefan out, I want you to be there to help him get back to the car while Ric and I take them out. It'll be a good distraction to keep them away from you. I would've asked Elena but I think she'd bust in the place and get killed. When it's dealing with Stefan, I don't like to involve her."

"But you wanna involve me?"

"You're not an idiot and you don't act impulsively but you care enough to do the job right. Besides, I trust you. Elena would drive off with Stefan and leave me there to get killed."

"Well, if he's getting tortured then we need to go like now." I bundled up in a warm coat and a scarf and sat in the back of Damon's gorgeous little blue car until they told me strategically where I needed to be. I got stationed near the cellar stairs and at a signal from Alaric, I dashed down the stairs and helped Stefan get out.

When I saw Stefan, I gaped at how many injuries he had. I knew he had been tortured but I figured that by being a vampire, most of it would have healed. Stefan was a lot heavier than I had imagined and helping across the long yard of trees was one of the worst experiences of my life. Stefan didn't even mutter a word to me and for awhile, I was certain he was dying. Adding that to the number of things I was hearing from inside the house, I was terrified. Certainly one of the tomb vampires was out in the yard as well, it was impossible for them not to be.

As it turned out, I was right. Without any sign at all, I was thrown away from Stefan and I saw a man hurt him. The next blow was appearing to be fatal and without any thought on my part, I grabbed part of a branch, cutting my hand open, and stabbed the tomb vamp in the back. He fell away from Stefan but it wasn't helping. I crawled toward Stefan on the ground and started shaking him. I hadn't killed the tomb vamp. I knew that much.

I put my hands to his face and pleaded with him to get up. Then I noticed the blood smeared on his face, blood from the cut on my hand. The adrenaline rushing through me and the cold of the night made it impossible to feel and again, without a thought, I put my cut to Stefan's mouth. His eyes opened and he shook his head at me.

"No," he begged. I saw tears well in his eyes and he kept trying to get away from me, like he was terrified I could hurt him. I moved my hand away, not being able to bear seeing him look at me like that, but then I looked down at his body and I saw all of his wounds and I put my hand back.

"Stefan, you need to drink this. I am so sorry." He gave me another terrified look but he didn't resist when I let him drink from my hand. The drops from my hand weren't enough, I knew, and before I could offer, Stefan had gripped my arm and bit my wrist. That was pain that I felt, especially when Anna had fed that wrist to Pearl not a week ago.

Then he pushed away from me as the tomb vamp was getting up. I stood back but unfortunately, I had to watch as he killed the tomb vampire. Automatically, I could tell that Stefan wasn't the same person.

I went home that night and saw Stefan and Elena embracing in the living room. It wasn't a fantastic sight to behold. I went to my room and holed up because my uncle John had come into town and Jenna had had the good sense of mind to warn us all so we could avoid him.

Before he finally went home that night, Stefan came into my room. "I just wanted to thank you for coming to save me," he said.

"You look a lot better now," I breathed. He really did. His skin looked luminescent.

"I take it I'll see you at the party tomorrow?" He asked it weirdly, like we were going on a date.

"Yeah, I have to go."

"Aren't you and Elena running for Miss Mystic Falls?" I grinned. I was actually really excited about it, although I had no intention of winning.

"Yes, we are."

"I'm thinking you ought to ask Damon as your date. He'd get a thrill out of it. After all, we were at the original one." Then Stefan left. He was acting so oddly.


	10. Chapter 10

I called Damon the next morning after having Stefan's behavior fester in my mind. He had never actually mentioned to me that he had really terrible problems with human blood but I did notice that he had never allowed me near his diaries chronicling his life right after being turned up to around the 1940s. I didn't pressure him for more information; it was great that he let me read his journals at all. I understood how personal the things he wrote were. But if he did in fact have a bad reaction to human blood, where it made him act out, I was now responsible for it.

Damon knocked on the front door, for once. It was probably the one time it would've been more convenient for him to come in my window. Jeremy and Jenna both were in the house. He got lucky that John wasn't actually home. I beckoned for him to come up the stairs without making much of a sound and of course, he spoke in a pretty loud voice and said, "No, Scarlett, I won't go to your bedroom with you," and almost laughed.

"This isn't a joke," I said and went upstairs with him following on my heels. I closed the door to my room behind him.

"Scar, when are you ever going to decorate this place? It's too… girly," said Damon. I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, Damon, this is bad." He nodded at me and went and jumped onto my bed. Of course, he had to lay on the side Stefan had been on that once. _Wow, it's really creepy that I remember that so clearly. _

"Well, first of all, did you know that your uncle John has been kicking it with the Founders Council?" Damon rolled on top of my covers and incessantly played with my pillows.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. None of us, meaning me, Jenna, Jeremy, nor Elena, cared for John and we rarely paid attention to his personal life but for him to just up and take the Gilbert spot on the Council simply wasn't kosher with me. By rights, I wanted it when I turned 18 in the next few months. Damon nodded sassily. "That's just perfect. I'll that to the growing list of things falling apart."

"What exactly is going on, Scarlett?" I shrugged.

"Look, I'm worried about Stefan. I gave him my blood, you know, and then he started acting weird. Elena mentioned how odd he was acting this morning. I had to tell her that I gave him my blood and she blew a gasket and yelled about she should've been the one there."

"Yeah, sure, she should've been but like I said, she would've acted stupidly and gotten herself killed. We did what we needed to and we saved Stefan's life, you specifically." I shrugged. The issues I was going to have with Elena because of this were the least of my worries and I knew that realistically, problems like this were going to come up soon since Stefan and I had been growing closer.

"Do you know when he's going to be back to normal?"

"A few days, give or take. He didn't have much of your blood, just enough to get a buzz."

"Then he's gonna be acting nuts tonight at the party with Elena and she will blame his behavior on me."

"I'll be there tonight. My goal was to get information on your uncle John but I guess I could keep a look out on him."

"I would appreciate it. He's just not being himself." Damon got up and rhythmically started opening my drawers and going through the notebooks on my desk.

"My guess is that he's spent too much time not being himself." I opened my mouth to respond but he talked over me. "The Stefan you and Elena know is the one who fights his nature to an annoyingly obsessive level and is completely reigned in. You don't understand how off the hinges he can be."

"You're right. I don't. We don't. Whatever. But he's certainly not you and you'll have to deal with Elena if he starts to act that way."

"Well, obviously, he doesn't wanna be me, Scar. But that doesn't mean that deep down, he's not." He had been moving closer to me and it made my skin prickle.

"I don't wanna have the morality conversation with you right now. I just want Stefan back to normal so that I can get Elena off my back about it. Don't make me regret asking you. You want him to be like this." I didn't mean for the accusation to come across but I could tell that he was liking that Stefan was coming undone.

"I told you, I'll do my best to look after him tonight and for however long he is going to be like this. You tell Elena if she's got issues with his behavior then she should talk to me. I'll see you tonight." Damon moved to leave and I stopped him.

"I was gonna ask you if you wanted to be my date to the Miss Mystic thing? Like my dance partner kind of thing?" I realized that I was flustered asking him and I didn't understand why. He almost smiled.

"Yeah, I'll definitely take you." I breathed a sigh of relief about that but had to get ready for the party that night as a nervous wreck. I wasn't exactly worried that Stefan would lash out and be angry but Elena had said that he had clearly wanted her blood earlier.

The dress I put on was pretty and my thick curly hair went well with it. I had always enjoyed these town parties Mystic Falls had. The party itself had some drama, such as Matt's mom hooking up with Tyler, but I kept to myself except for the couple times that I ran into Damon and he wasn't paying attention to anything but John. So much for keeping an eye on Stefan.

The night was getting late and I was about to leave when I finally saw Stefan. He looked dark, his suit was black, of course, but his eyes looked dark and he was biting his lower lip like he was too hungry to think about anything else. His hands were fumbling with each other and his suit jacket. He was looking down at the floor and I saw him speaking to Matt's mom from afar and I could tell that it was weird. I walked forward to move past him when he finally saw me. Our eyes connected and I stopped walking and I noticed that he immediately stopped fumbling with his hands.

He came towards me fast and I backed away from him. He looked more like a vampire that night than he ever had before and it was frightening. "Scarlett," he breathed, touching the side of my face with his hand. My eyes were darting everywhere, looking for a sign of Damon or even Elena. We weren't in a busy part of the party and it was making me nervous. I touched Stefan's arm.

"I was just leaving," I said, attempting to move past him. He gripped my wrist and pulled me back harshly. I had to admit it hurt. "Stefan, please, you're hurting me." _This is my fault, my blood is doing this to him. _He pushed my back against a wall and put his hands to my face again. I could tell one hand was wet and then I realized it was blood from Ms. Donavan's head. "Can we do this later? Just let me go." I was whispering anxiously but I didn't think he understood what I was saying or that it even registered that I was speaking to him.

"Scarlett," he said again, running his hands down my arms. He was using his ticks on me. Stefan's hand stopped on my right wrist, the one he had drunk from the other day. I had cleverly bandaged it and then put a bracelet over it so no one that night would see it. He raised his eyes to meet mine as he started biting his lower lip, running his fingers over the bandage. I knew I should've changed it before I came tonight. Wrists bleed a lot and mine had been injured twice recently.

I shrunk back towards the wall even further if that was possible and shook my head at him. "No, don't do this." Again, he didn't really seem to comprehend. Ms. Donovan had set him off. "Stefan, please, I am scared of you."

All of a sudden, he shook his head a bit and backed off of me then he bolted. I ran home without thinking about anything else. That was incredibly freaky. I would tell Damon about it the next day. I really needed to sleep and he was probably preoccupied with other things. I didn't want to bother him needlessly. I was getting into pajamas when I accidentally caught a glimpse in my mirror and saw Stefan. I gasped and turned and sure enough, he was there. I had automatically wished it was a hallucination brought on by fear. He could really kill me here if he wanted to. He had his head tilted to the side and he had that same hungry looking expression on his face.

"Oh my gosh, you scared me!" I exclaimed. I decided to pretend that he was normal now and I figured he had cooled off since the blood incident.

"I'm sorry," he said blandly. "I'm sorry that I ran off earlier." Oh, so he remembered that. That wasn't some blood induced instinct, he actually remembered what he had been doing. "I don't want to frighten you like that again." I shook my head.

"I mean, what was that? What happened? Is everything okay? Elena and I are worried about you." He looked like he was trying to muster up a good response but he just shook head.

"No, I'm not," he said, looking down at the floor again.

"You can sit down," I said, gesturing towards my bed. He reluctantly sat on the edge of my bed and started running his hands up and down the blankets. "Tell me what's going on and if I can help you." He gave me a tortured look.

"I tried so hard to keep it together tonight and it was working but then Matt's mom got hurt and I had her blood on my hands." I nodded, still nervous. "All I could think about was you when I finally saw you and you're still cut and it's still fresh. I wanted you so badly but you said you were scared of me and I couldn't deal with it so I went outside and there was this guy in the parking lot and I just wanted to feed on him." I was almost shivering at the way he was talking about me. "It took everything inside of me not to do it." He was gritting on his teeth like he was still resisting. I backed away from him and I could tell it upset him but I figured Elena would be more appropriate for this conversation. She wasn't scared of him being a vampire the way I was.

"You didn't feed on either of us though," I said.

"No, but I wanted to. Scarlett, I'm going crazy." He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. "My head is pounding. I feel like my skin is on fire. I have this hunger inside of me that I've never felt before in my entire life and all I keep thinking about is how I can't lie to you and how Elena wouldn't understand this." I shook my head.

"She would get it. You should talk to her," I said, kind of hoping he would go on and go tell her. This conversation was frightening.

"No, no, she wouldn't. She would assume that I'm like Damon. But I can tell you because you accept Damon and because you're my best friend. But I don't want you to see me like this."

"No, if you aren't okay then I need to be here for you."

"Scarlett, no, you are terrified of me. I can hear how fast your heart is beating and I can see it on your face. I don't want you to know this part of me exists." I moved towards him instinctually and bent to grab his hands.

"I'm here for you, okay? You're my best friend too. You'll get through this, I will help you." I had moved to touch him again and he stood up and got away from me.

"I'm afraid of what I could do to you." I could see how bad it was torturing him and it was torturing me too.

"Just let me," I asked, "please." I moved towards him and he acted scared again, like my touch would hurt him. I was shaking but I moved and pulled him closer to me. I heard him make a sound like a sob and he gripped the back of my head and held me close.

"I love you and Elena so much," he breathed and I nodded. Saying it back would've made things worse.

_Like either of us need to be more confused. _


	11. Chapter 11

I went thru the motions for the next few days, making preparations for the Miss Mystic pageant. I didn't take winning seriously and neither did Elena at this point. I had barely heard from Stefan or Damon until we had to take our dance lesson for the ceremony. I noticed that Stefan was goofing off with Elena but that wasn't the weirdest thing it could've been and I took it at face value. I needed to focus on getting the steps right anyway. Ms. Lockwood was barking dance moves like we were all in some kind of dance military and I found that Damon and I were joking around a little too much too.

"Flirt with your eyes," she said and Damon gave me some saucy look where I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"This dance is ridiculous," I whispered to Damon. I thought dancing out to include being able to touch your partner. He smirked.

"You just don't know how to do it right. I'll probably end up having to privately tutor you." I scoffed.

"Sorry I wasn't around when they invented it."

I was shocked at how fast it got around to the actual pageant. I was hoping it went normally. All Elena had said about Stefan was that he had been in an unnaturally good mood. She had also mentioned Bonnie going off the wall against vampires since her Grams had passed. That was issue that wasn't really my problem and at the end of the day, I was too overloaded to add that to my list of things to fix.

I was getting into my dress in my dressing room after Jenna had fixed my hair. It was up and I wasn't satisfied but I was never fully satisfied with my appearance anyway. Then I heard my door open. I turned, expecting Elena but I saw Damon. "What are you doing in here?" I asked anxiously as he closed the door behind him. He was supposed to be at the bottom of the stairs with the other dates. We weren't long from starting.

"You look gorgeous," he said, looking at my dress and I smiled.

"Thank you so much. So do you." And he did, that suit was so flattering with his dark hair and light eyes. "But why are you in here? Aren't you supposed to be downstairs?"

"I just spoke with Elena," he said.

"About what?" I knew something had to ruin this day, of course it did.

"Stefan's still drinking human blood." I got confused.

"I don't completely understand what you're saying."

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house."

"Oh, this is my fault. I'm the one who fed him blood in the first place."

"Yeah, Elena's pretty pissed-" Then the door opened again, revealing Stefan. I started stepping back the moment I saw him. He had that dark look about him he'd had the other night and I had to admit that it was attractive on him at the same time as being terrifying.

"What's going on in here?" Stefan asked.

"Just filling Scarlett in on your extracurricular activities," said Damon.

Stefan turned his head to the side and looked at me dead on, pouting his lips. "What are you talking about?" _Oh, so we're playing that game._

"Damon told me about the blood," I said. Stefan began to smile at me.

"Can I talk to her alone, Damon?" Damon looked skeptical. "I swear I'm not dangerous."

"I need a drink anyway," said Damon and he gave me a look of reassurance before he walked out. "Can't wait for our dance."

Stefan shut the door behind him and kind of laughed a bit. It was shocking to me that Damon had left me alone with him. Whatever, I was going to enjoy this day and deal with Stefan later. I didn't understand why Damon had to burden me with that information when first of all, he knew how important this day being normal meant to me and second of all, when Elena was the one actually dating him.

"You look beautiful in that dress, Scar," he said, still kind of smiling and my heart started pounding. Before I had a chance to respond, he said, "I was going to tell you and Elena." He walked towards me as he was saying, "I'm fine, the blood doesn't change anything." He had this seductive look about him when he was looking at me and I wondered if he was trying to compel me.

"I think it is," I said.

"Oh, come on, Scar," he said, putting his hands on either of my arms. "I just got told off by Elena because of this. I don't want to hear it from you too."

"It's not my place to tell you how to live your life but you are changing-"

"You don't have any room to talk when the only other person besides me who you hang out with is Damon. He's worse." I opened my mouth a little in shock.

"But I have made you act like him because of my blood so I need to help you clear this up." I could tell Stefan hadn't moved on to the next topic like I had. His mind was still on Damon.

"I don't want you to be friends with him," said Stefan, on the verge of snarling.

"He would never say that about you." Then Carol Lockwood opened the door and told us the line up was ready and that Stefan needed to be downstairs. I got in line in front of Elena and watched as Caroline and another girl went down the stairs in front of me.

Ms. Lockwood came up to Elena and I and asked, "Have either of you seen Amber?" We shook our heads. I figured she was going to chicken out about the whole thing anyway.

"Wait," said Elena to me before I walked down, "where is Stefan?" I looked down at the line of dates and didn't see him.

"I don't know," I said. "He came by my dressing room about the blood and then Ms. Lockwood made him leave so we could get in line." I rested my hand on the rail. "I have to go but if it comes to it, take Amber's date when we dance. Then we'll find him."

I began to walk down the stairs when they called my name and when I saw Damon at the bottom, I started to smile. It was peculiar to be smiling when everything was going to hell but Damon looked happy to see me and I was happy he was my date. He took my hand and as we were walking outside, I leaned to him and asked, "Where is Stefan?"

"I don't know. But don't worry about him right now… or at all." I smiled again and I figured that I must actually be losing my mind.

"We need to do something," I said, when I leaned forward before the dance.

"We'll deal with it later." We danced and had to do the "near touch" part first and it was torturous, as I suppose it's made to be. I found myself enjoying it and I felt bad when I looked and saw Elena with Amber's date.

Once the dance was done, Elena dashed around, trying to find traces of Stefan anywhere while Damon and I tried calling him and also searching. Night fell by the time we'd made any real progress. We found Stefan out in the woods, Bonnie following us. I didn't quite understand what business it was of hers what we were trying to do but I ended up being thankful she was there. Stefan had taken Amber and when we found him, he was draining her.

I gasped as Stefan turned towards us with blood all over his face. Damon moved to push Elena and I behind him. "You need to go back," he said to us. "I'll take care of him." I was frozen to the spot in shock of what was happening. I watched as Stefan was able to throw Damon away from him and then all of a sudden, he was crippling in pain. Bonnie was doing it.

Damon quickly had to rush him home so that the Council wouldn't catch on to anything but not before he told me that he had a plan. "We need to dry him out, he's like an alcoholic," said Damon.

"Well, then what do we do?" I asked.

"You know those vervaine shots that Ric has? I've got one and then we can lock up him while he gets down from this." I nodded. "I need you to distract him or you can distract and do the shot if you want. I just figured you wouldn't be up for that. It was Elena's idea but she doesn't want to be the one to do it."

"The vervaine is gonna hurt him, isn't it?" I asked, nervously.

"That's what you're concerned about? That he'll be hurt? Scar, what part of him almost killing that girl didn't register with you?

"You kill people on the regular, Damon, so what's your problem with it?" He raised his eyebrows at me. "Yes, I have issue with it too but isn't there another way to solve this than by locking him in your vervaine cellar?"

"If you want it done quickly then yes, this is the only way. I'm not sure we'd be able to stop him otherwise."

"I can't do it, Damon. I can't hurt him."

"Then I'll do it for you. Just distract him. You won't even know when it's coming." I sighed and agreed. The Salvatore brothers had a way for making me do things I didn't want to do to the other.

I arrived at the Salvatore house and I went to Stefan's room. I watched him shed his shirt and look in the mirror and see my reflection. "You shouldn't be here," he said. "I could hurt you."

"I know," I practically whispered. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't here by choice.

"You're scared of me," he said, turning to look at me.

"No," I lied, "you can't scare me off."

"I suppose that's true since you're friends with Damon."

"This isn't about Damon. This is about you."

"I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from that girl's body."

"You can control that," I rationalized.

"No, you don't understand. This is who I am. I am a monster. I'm a vampire, Scarlett."

"I know what you are but that doesn't mean you're evil."

"Why would risk it? Why would you come here?" he asked, turning on me angrily.

"I did this to you, Stefan." He shook his head. "I did, it's my fault."

"All you did was expose me to who I really am!" he yelled.

"It doesn't have to be that way! You can control this!"

"Stop saying that!" He threw something off his table and I jumped.

"You can though," I said, like walking on eggshells. He lost it and threw me up against a wall, no doubt bruising my shoulder blades.

"No, I can't!" He threw his hands on the wall behind me and I looked up at him, totally scared he might rip my throat out. I started breathing harshly and he looked shocked that he'd done anything. Stefan looked down at me like he felt bad for me. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. I felt like I couldn't respond. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," he said again, leaning towards me and putting his head down on my shoulder. "I don't know what's happening to me." I could tell he was breaking down and he wrapped his arms around me and I started crying a bit too. I felt so terrible for him and I knew what was about to happen to him would be bad too.

"It's okay," I muttered into his ear. "It's gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine." I closed my eyes and held him to me a little more. Then I heard him gasp and he pushed his hands to the wall again to keep his balance while he tried to pull away from me. Then he fell to the floor and I saw Damon, holding the now empty shot. I was still sort of crying and Damon just pursed his lips at me.

"You did well. But personally, I think the long hug was a little too personal when you're not his girlfriend," said Damon. _I don't want to hear this right now. _

"I'm going home. I don't wanna see him like this."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey ya'll! I am sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I've been caught up in so many different things but I want to thank you for the continued support and everyone new that I keep hearing from. I own nothing except Scarlett. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Hopefully, it won't take me as long to update from now on.**

I confess that I wasn't a huge part of the next few events. Elena was, of course, the one who broke through to Stefan and got him to work well with us. I spent most of the days with Caroline because Bonnie was doing witch things for Stefan and Damon. Nobody explained any of it to me so I figured it either was just plain not important or it wasn't any of my business.

I did have to ride on the float with Caroline and Elena in the Founder's Day parade but I wasn't feeling well afterward so I went on home. Later on that night, I heard a knock on the door. I saw it was Elena, holding her stuff and I looked at her skeptically but moved so she could come in. She didn't budge. "Are you going to come in?" I asked, a little peeved.

"Well, since you asked," she responded and moved past me. I walked out on the porch since John was home and lately, he and Elena had been sparring because he finally told her he was actually her father. I was sitting outside when I saw Damon's car pull up so I ran up to the window. I heard something in the house but I figured it was nothing. None of the fights had actually been anger driven, Elena had just been being difficult.

"What are you doing here?" I asked when Damon got out of the car.

"Elena and Stefan just saved me from the device so luckily I am still alive."

"Well, I'm glad. I told them to look out for you." He smiled down at me.

"Did you hear what happened to Caroline?" I nodded.

"I think I'm gonna go to the hospital in a few minutes. Just let me change and we can go together?" He nodded at me then moved toward his car.

"But before I forget, you left some of your stuff from the parade back there and Elena said she'd be home late so she just told me to bring them by." I raised my eyebrows a bit.

"That's impossible. Elena is inside my house right now and she brought her stuff home."

"What are you talking about? I literally just saw her and she told me she wouldn't be home for hours. She's heading to the hospital now."

"Well, come inside because I swear, she's here." I ran up the steps and into my house. I hadn't imagined Elena coming home. That was impossible. Damon followed me inside and we walked into the main hallway. I heard something in the kitchen and I figured that it was her.

But when I walked into the house, I saw John lying on the floor in a pool of blood. "Oh my gosh! John!" I screamed and got on my knees and put pressure to the wound in his stomach. I looked back at Damon, who had a look of confusion and said, "Can you get the phone and dial 911 please?" Damon did as I asked while I continued to try to stop the bleeding in John's abdomen.

John looked up at me and said, "Katherine…" I turned my head back to see Damon. Once the ambulance came, Damon and I rode to the hospital together.

"Anna told me she was never in the tomb and that she knew where we were but didn't care," said Damon. "She must be coming around here to impersonate Elena but I doubt that's all of it."

"I don't understand what's going on. Are you saying I invited her into my house? I've basically killed us all."

"I'm not gonna lie and say that you haven't. If she's been invited in, you're all in danger."

"I'm gonna tell Jenna about this. I can't keep her in the dark. Not with this stuff with John now."

"Don't tell her anything! That'll put her even more at risk."

"I doubt that, Damon. She needs to know what to expect."

"Do you think she's gonna believe that there is a vampire in town, let alone one that is the doppelganger of Elena? Think before you do anything rash!" I openly put my head in my hands and sighed. I just wanted to be at the hospital and telling Elena and Stefan what was going on. When we got there, Elena and Stefan weren't there. They were dealing with some stupid suicide stunt from Jeremy, who I had honestly forgotten was even in the house with me. I felt seriously irresponsible which I had never been before. While waiting for them to come to the hospital, Bonnie came up to me and Damon, relaying information on how Caroline was doing.

"How did the car accident even happen?" I asked her.

"From Matt, it sounded like Tyler reacted to the device. Of course, he doesn't know what it was but that was the reaction he described," she responded. I noticed she was glaring over at Damon from time to time, not trusting him at all.

"Tyler isn't a vampire though," I responded.

"The mayor was brought to where they were burning the vampires," mentioned Damon. "I think he reacted too."

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, to no one in particular.

"Well, Caroline's doing really badly," said Bonnie. "They don't know what kind of internal damage she has. She may never recover."

"What are you saying?" I asked. "That she could die from this?"

"I don't know."

"I could-" began Damon.

"No," I said, cutting him off. His blood would heal her but I thought the risk was too high.

"Do it," demanded Bonnie. "This is Caroline, we're talking about. We can't let her die." I nodded. Maybe this truly was the only way.

"Well, if I do this," said Damon, "you and me, call a truce?"

"No but you'll do it anyway… for Scarlett." I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. Damon stalked off before anything else could be said. I assumed that he gave Caroline the blood she needed.

"Stop being such a bitch to him and Stefan," I said. "They're not as bad as you seem to think."

"Oh, I know that Damon is bad. If anything else goes wrong around here, he'll pay for it."

"You know as well as I do that the things going on right now have next to nothing to do with Damon so lay off."

"I thought you were my friend, Scarlett. Out of anyone I thought you'd be on my side. But you've chosen them over me and Caroline and even Elena."

"What are you insinuating here, Bonnie?" I demanded, as Elena finally walked up. We stopped our bickering for her sake. She told me that Jenna had chewed her out for not remembering something that she told her earlier. I knew what it was. I also knew that since Stefan wasn't with her, more than likely he'd run into Katherine.

Damon, Elena, and I made our way back to my house where we entered and found that Stefan had lost a fight to Katherine. "What happened?" asked Elena.

"Katherine happened," said Damon. Stefan was pushing himself up off the floor and I moved to help him but Elena dashed to him first.

"She's been invited in?" Elena asked. I took a deep breath.

"It was an accident. I thought she was you," I said. Elena looked like she was totally in shock. "She had your stuff from the parade and I thought that maybe there was a reason you were just lingering outside of the door."

"I can't believe this, Scar. How could you not have known that it wasn't me? Now John's in the hospital and she's fought with Stefan!"

"Cut her some slack. I'd have made the same mistake too," said Damon.

"You're not related to me."

"Thank God."

"Well, what are we gonna do?" I asked. "If she's been invited in, what can we do?"

"Move?" suggested Damon. I cracked a smile. Logically, it probably was the only thing that could possibly stop her from coming in here. The whole point was more than likely to pose as Elena, to antagonize the Salvatore brothers. I felt a pang for Damon as my brain made the connection that not too long ago he'd been hellbent on saving her and trying to be with her again. I prayed that he was being smart enough to not fall for any of her tricks.

Damon didn't leave that night, more for my peace of mind than anything else. It was late anyway and I doubted I'd get much sleep because of my latest discrepancy when it came to vampires. First it was mistakenly giving Stefan my blood and then he turned into a monster, now I'd invited a vindictive older vampire into my house that made it more dangerous for me, Jeremy, Elena, and Jenna. It had also meant that my uncle John was injured. Stefan warned me before he left that he planned on talking to John, convincing him to leave town because of what happened with the device. I also had Jeremy's suicide attempt on my mind. How could Elena and I have missed him contemplating something like that? It was almost insane. Maybe Bonnie was right. Maybe I'd been putting caring for the Salvatores at the top of my list.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Damon as he was systemically going through the drawers in my room. Jenna didn't know he was here so he had to be in there with me and I almost didn't mind. I was more scared of Katherine at the moment than I was of him.

I sat up in bed to talk to him. "Just that I've screwed up again. Could you not go in that one please? It's got my underwear in it." He immediately shut it and turned around, still with a saucy look on his face. He wanted to go through it but was, for once, doing what I asked.

"You have not screwed up. You know what happened? You made a mistake. It happens to me all the time."

"But she's right, she is my sister. How could I not have known? That's incredibly stupid of me."

"You know you're not stupid," he said after he'd laughed a little. "You're so well put together that you put Elena's weird control-freaky self out of commission. Don't ever let her tell you what to do." He came over and sat on the bed with me.

"Since we're giving each other advice, can you please do one thing for me?"

He raised his eyebrows but leaned closer me. "Telling me to do something doesn't sound like much advice." I laughed at him in response.

"You know what I meant. Please be serious about this." I sunk down lower and propped myself up with my elbow.

"What is it?" he asked, seriously and I became immediately conscious of how close we were and the fact that if he was under the covers, he would be in bed with me. I awkwardly coughed and moved back from him, wondering why it was making me so nervous.

"If Katherine comes to you, I don't want you to get with her." I saw his expression dim. "I just… I just think she'd be tricking you and then she'd tell you something you don't wanna hear and you'd get hurt. So that's my advice. Don't fall for anything."

"You don't have to worry about that." He smiled at me and I felt relieved that he'd really listened, that he hadn't blown it off with some sarcastic comment. "I'm not interested in her anymore," he said, directing his gaze up ay my ceiling.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Maybe Stefan was right all these years and she compelled us." I had never agreed with Stefan on that account. I'd read Stefan's diaries during the time and I thought it was real, although I'd known from this time that Damon was the one who cared for her most. That he didn't want to be a vampire if it meant living without her. He'd only wanted to turn for her. I'd seen that even in the biased pages of Stefan's diaries. That was when Damon became the person that I sometimes was ambivalent about; he'd promised to make Stefan's life a living hell and for the most part, had achieved that.

"Stefan's not always right," I responded, trying not to totally say I disagreed with the idea because it was obviously making things better for Damon.

"Whose side are you on?" he responded, back to being himself.

"Both of yours," I said. He turned back to me and I was automatically uncomfortable again.

"Were you telling me to stay away from Katherine because you'd be jealous?" I felt my face getting hot even though the idea had never consciously crossed my mind.

"Because I don't want you to get hurt and therefore, hurt other people that must mean that I'm jealous? You're losing your touch."

"Whatever you say," he responded.

"Maybe you want me to be jealous so you're just projecting. Did you think of that?" I asked, sinking down into my bed. He only made a face.

"Why don't you just go to sleep?" he responded. I snorted a laugh. He didn't have a comeback? That was new.

When I woke up, I noticed that my bed didn't feel empty. I turned from staring over at the wall and noticed that Damon was laying on the other side of my bed. Vampires slept? Damon was in my bed? What the hell? When I fully turned over, I could tell that Damon was actually asleep. He'd kept to his side pretty nicely. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. I put my hand on his chest and shook him awake. He groaned at me. "What exactly do you think you're doing?" I asked. "Aren't you supposed to be protecting the house?"

"I didn't say anything about protecting the house. You said you wanted me here for your peace of mind. You said literally nothing about the house." He sounded groggy but clearly, that didn't impede his sense of humor.

"The 'peace of mind' thing was more about having you here in case Katherine comes in which by definition should make you think of protection."

"Well, she couldn't have gotten you because I would've taken her. Does that make you feel better?"

"It doesn't make me feel better about Elena or Jeremy or Aunt Jenna."

"Even if I'd known to protect the whole house, you would've been my first concern." My breath caught in my throat. I wasn't sure what that meant.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I mean," he responded. "Now get up and let's get ready to go to the Lockwoods." I rolled my eyes.

"I don't really want to go, Damon."

"Come on, Scar. Stefan is right about one thing. You can't stop living your life just because of some vampires. Believe me, I wouldn't let you go if I truly thought it was dangerous." I solemnly nodded.

Soon the time came for us to go and Elena was taking too long. "I'll be there later," she told me. "I just want to clear some stuff up with Jeremy and then I promise that I'll be there." I had only nodded in response. Jeremy did need to be dealt with and she was always better at reprimanding him than I had been.

Damon was my date to the party at the Lockwoods and I saw that Stefan was already there. The Salvatore brothers both always looked spectacular in suits. I was wearing a dark green dress because I thought it went so well with my hair and my eyes. Both Damon and Stefan had complimented me on nice I looked. I loved that Mystic Falls had all these fun parties. "Do you have a council meeting?" I whispered to Damon while I was going to the snack table.

"I honestly don't know but apparently, there's a new Lockwood in town. His name's Mason. You ever heard of him?" I shook my head. Actually, I hadn't.

"Is he here for the mayor's funeral?"

"I assume so but I think there's something going on with this family. How did two of the guys react to the device?" I shrugged. "Aren't you close with Tyler or something?" I almost spit out my cake square.

"No way. He was just into me for awhile. I think it was because I was so unlike Vicki and because he knew it would make Jeremy mad." Jeremy hadn't liked that Tyler pursued me because he was more protective of me than Elena. Who knows why? "So if you're thinking I can answers on what happened, it's highly doubtful."

"Could you talk to him anyway?" We exchanged a look and finally, I was the one who broke. I walked away from him to find Tyler when I saw Elena walk by.

"Hey, Elena, did you see Tyler?" I asked. She stopped, as though she was confused but then she nodded.

"He should be over by the door, greeting people," she responded.

"Thanks!" I said while turning away but then she grabbed my wrist. I turned back because her grip was pretty powerful.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier but I'm Katherine." I genuinely think that my heart stopped. "I don't think the two of us will have a problem, since you seem to have your head on straight but if we do…"

"We won't," I responded.

"That's good to hear, Scarlett. Now call off your little witch friend, Bonnie. Those headaches are extremely obnoxious." I felt her let go of my arm because Stefan had walked up.

"You leave her alone," he threatened. Katherine smirked in a way that automatically showed that she was not Elena. "Scarlett and Elena have nothing to do with this. We can talk. Don't touch her again." Katherine looked at him expectantly and he obligatorily offered up his arm. "I'm sorry, Scar," he said and then he walked away with her.


	13. Chapter 13

**I cannot thank ya'll enough for the continued support I get for this fic. I am incredibly sorry for the long wait. I had been focusing on a fic that I wanted done by a certain date and of course, that never happened. But seriously, the love this story gets is absolutely amazing so thanks so much. It's all gone to my head, unfortunately, haha. And actually, I don't think my writing in the first few chapters is truly up to par so I may go back and edit some but I have no idea when I'd be able to do that. But as usual, I only own Scarlett. And please continue to tell me what you think!**

I felt more nervous than I had in ages and I automatically went after finding Damon, mostly just to beg so that I could get out of there. Tyler would have to be on the back burner. I was more than freaked. When I did find him, he was standing on the porch, looking like he was ready to leave anyway. "Damon, something's going on," I said before I'd really taken notice of his stance. He was staring out into their yard and I noticed that Stefan was standing with Katherine in the distance. "I just met her," I forced myself to spit out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Scarlett. I'm walking on sunshine. Why is she talking to Stefan?" he responded.

"She was talking to me and he intervened. My guess is she's playing Elena. Are you alright?" He had yet to force himself to look away from her and I felt a pang. "Are you upset she hasn't talked to you?" He smirked.

"Are you worried about me getting hurt?"

"Actually, yes. I'm worried about you getting hurt. Just please don't let her get to you."

"It's flattering that you're so scared that she'll push me off the deep end."

"Just listen to me, Damon. I'm leaving. Why don't you come with me and we can go back to your house and we can talk about it? Me, you, and Stefan? Or just me and you. Or just you and Stefan. Whatever way, you really need to talk about this." He gave me a look that was just plain pitiful.

"I'll talk to Stefan when she's done with him. We can go home afterward. Why don't you find Bonnie and convince her to stop being a bitch to me? That would be totally helpful." He sauntered off before I had the chance to talk to him more. Elena breezed by me once I was inside the manor again.

"Katherine's here," I anxiously whispered to her. "She's outside with Stefan." I hadn't told her the information so that she could run off and try to talk to him but of course, she did that anyway. I completely understood why Damon never wanted to involve her in plans. She was unpredictable because of her emotions.

I found Bonnie quickly and she seemed freaked, explaining that Katherine wasn't affected by her headaches and she had only gotten away from her by blasting the doors to the room they were in open. I told her how she'd introduced herself to me and from that point, we stuck together. We weren't waiting all that long when Elena approached us again.

"Katherine wants Stefan," she groaned, totally worried. "But Scarlett, something came up with Damon and Stefan when we were talking and I think you should know." I raised my eyebrows and Bonnie only gripped my forearm.

"I don't get how anything with Katherine could have anything to do with me," I said. Elena shook her head.

"This isn't really about Katherine. Damon admitted that he feels something for you." Bonnie's nails dug into my arm and I sucked my breath in. How? Even though we were friends, Damon and I barely knew each other. And how was it possible for him to feel something for me when he'd been basically obsessed with Katherine for over a century? Wouldn't it be easier to shift those feelings onto Elena and not me?

"I don't understand," I said.

"He said you'd been worried that Katherine would hurt him and send him over the edge and then Stefan insinuated it and Damon got angry and said that yes, he has feelings for you. But he's run off and I think maybe you need to talk to him before he does something incredibly stupid." I nodded and shook off Bonnie's grip as Elena and I left.

I showed up at the Salvatore house once it was dark, not knowing exactly what I was going to say, and immediately felt something in the air. Something wasn't right. I slipped in the door without knocking as I usually did and paused by the door when my eyes fixed on what was happening. Elena, no, Katherine was kissing Damon and their shirts were ripped open and I felt sick. I'd warned him.

"Wait, wait, brief pause," I heard Damon say. Katherine pushed him away roughly. "I have a question. Answer it and it's back to fireworks and rockets' red glare. Answer it right and I'll forget the last 145 years I've spent missing you. I'll forget how much I loved you. I'll forget everything and we can start over. This could be our defining moment, we have the time. That's the beauty of eternity. I just need the truth, just once." He'd moved toward her again, putting his hands to her face and I just continued to feel incredibly sorry for him.

"I already know your question and it's answer," said Katherine. It was still eerie how much she and Elena were alike. Damon looked at her desperately and she went on. "The truth is, I've never loved you. It was always Stefan." I couldn't hold in my gasp.

The two of them finally took notice of me and Damon looked crestfallen. I held my breath as Katherine walked by me, completely like my sister, and gave me a nod. She didn't appear to have the problem with me she had with Elena, or at least, not yet.

When she walked out the door, I ran and pulled Damon to me fast. He gripped me hard and I felt him shake before he pulled away. He'd clearly been drinking already before she came. "Let me get you something, anything you want," I said, putting my hands to his face. He shook his head and pulled away from me. "You're upset, it's the least I could for you right now."

"Upset is an emotion for people who care," he replied. I didn't push back. "But there is something going on between the two of us and you know it." Slowly, I nodded because he was fast approaching me again. "Forget about Stefan and-"

"No, don't bring him into this. You're hurt right now." He shook his dark head again and pushed me against the wall and kissed me. I shook my head at him and pulled back. "Don't do this when you're just trying to make yourself feel better about Katherine!"

"Is that what you think this is?" he demanded, his voice going shades darker.

"I know that's what this is," I said back.

"I should've known you'd reject me. I should've known that stuffy Stefan was right. And you're just like Katherine, you know that? More so than Elena."

"What do you mean?" I whispered. Damon pulled back from me finally and I felt terribly hurt. Compared to Katherine, I was a saint, wasn't I?

"You know exactly what I mean. Come on, Scar, you're clever. Think about it." I pressed my lips together and refused to move. "It's always gonna be Stefan, right? Are you gonna give me that too?" I shook my head.

"No. Come on, Damon. I pushed you away because you're hurt and you don't want me right now. You want her; you want someone to fill her void in your heart and that is not gonna be me." He furrowed his brow and it was weirdly attractive, no matter how drunk he was.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're hurt and if you come onto me right now, then I'll be the one that… Then I'll be the one that gets hurt," I said. His eyes clouded over and he shook his head, coming over to me again. I threw my hands up to stop him. "You're drunk so I'm gonna go. Just don't let Katherine get to you." I moved to leave but before I knew it, he'd arrived in front of me again.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked weakly. He looked innocent for once in his life and I only shrugged.

"I care about you, okay? Now, I'll see you tomorrow. I promised Jenna I'd help her make dinner." He half smiled and stepped out of the way.

I breezed out of the Salvatore manor and once I was securely in my car, I rubbed my hands over my face. Damon had kissed me. In the same day as learning that he had feelings for me, he had kissed me and accused me of being similar to Katherine. What in the world did that even mean? Why? Because I happened to really have a thing for Stefan? Because I might be starting to think of Damon as more than a friend? Normally, I would've said I wasn't but he'd given me a look earlier that made me think he trusted me and did really like me. That meant a lot.

With all this vampire stuff, I'd generally felt like a set piece that was called into action when someone with my skills was needed (and the valuable skills I had were limited). I helped Stefan with Damon, I helped Damon with Stefan, and somehow, there was no payoff for any of it. Lexi had been killed, Vicki had been killed, Damon had almost killed me. We'd all really been put at risk in the past few months.

I heard the roar of an engine beside me and I saw Stefan get out of his small red car. I turned my key in the ignition before giving him a small wave. He made like he was going to come over to me but I put the car in reverse and started driving. If I was to talk to Stefan right now, I might really lose it. If I was going to talk to anyone about Damon, it would be Elena.

Hours later, I was lying in bed and I still hadn't gone to sleep. Elena seemed to sense it because she came in and sat on the side of my bed. "What happened?" she asked. "Other than Katherine making out with him?" That was all I'd mentioned earlier and it had subdued her enough during dinner but Elena was my sister and she knew when something else was going on.

"He kissed me," I muttered, putting my fingers to my forehead.

"Really? Stefan will be livid. He's really protective of you, you know?" I raised myself up to sit and stare at her.

"He is? That's… That's nice, I suppose. That's a nice sentiment," I blabbered on. She only smiled, still not catching on to my feelings for Stefan. If she had any clue of them, she'd never let on that she knew. For all I knew, she didn't care. Elena _was _the one dating him.

"Was it weird?" she prompted. I shook my head. It hadn't been, not really.

"He had just been drinking before Katherine ever showed and when I came in, she told him she'd never loved him, that it was always gonna be Stefan. When she left, he turned to me. I pushed him off and I told him he was hurt and that he shouldn't do it now."

"Now? So are you saying you would contemplate being with him?" I shrugged.

"Why don't we talk about this once I've had some sleep? I'm not coherent enough to give you a real answer." She smiled at me again and I laughed. "Do not get anything in your head. Damon is damaged goods. No one is gonna be able to date him for a while, I'm pretty sure. He's not over her. And we sort of fought a little."

"The two of you will always butt heads. That's the kind of personalities you have." I didn't deny it but it would definitely make things hard for our friendship now. I wish I'd thought of that earlier.

What if Damon owned up to it to Stefan? What if this screwed me over? We had to see each other, there was really no way around that. We had to work together, especially now when we needed Katherine gone. What if I'd made a huge mistake by acting sort of vulnerable in front of Damon? God, what were we getting ourselves into?


End file.
